House Speaker Frank McNulty steamrolled majority opinion Monday and saw to it that a bill legalizing civil unions was killed on the first day of a special legislative session.

McNulty, R-Highlands Ranch, showed a complete disdain for honesty, spinning a fairy tale whereby Democrats brought the legislature “to a grinding halt” and demanded “that a bill creating same-sex marriage in Colorado be prioritized and forced to the front of the line.”

The truth:

• The bill in question would have recognized a civil union between same-sex couples, which is a far cry from same-sex marriage.

• A majority of lawmakers — at least 58 of 100 — supported the measure, including three Republicans whose votes led to the bill passing three House committees after clearing the Senate.

• After promising a fair hearing, but faced with the reality that he would be on the losing side, McNulty threw his wrench in the gears of governance and let the civil unions bill — and many others — die on the second-to-last day of the regular session.

As if the anti-democratic shenanigans last week weren’t bad enough, McNulty went all-in Monday.

Rather than send the bill to the House Judiciary Committee as he had each of the last two years, he instead assigned it to a “kill committee” stacked with Republicans whom he knew would vote against it.

Unable to offer a straightforward defense, McNulty conjured a laughable explanation that tried to shift the blame to the Democratic governor and a “divisive social agenda.”

“This is Gov. Hickenlooper’s special session that he called for the purpose of passing same-sex marriage,” McNulty said. “From our perspective, our side is focused on job creation and economic recovery.”

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